Rep. Adam Smith, about to become the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday that Congress’ War Powers Resolution would do little to stop the White House from being involved with the conflict in Yemen.

The farm bill passed by Congress is mostly a status quo bill, with little changes to current programs, and several provisions essential to California agriculture will remain the same as the last farm bill passed five years ago.

The Senate easily passed a farm policy bill that makes few changes to the federal food assistance program. It now heads to the House, where some Republicans are still bristling over concessions in the final bill.

Despite a promise by House Republicans to use the farm bill to crack down on state-level abuse of the federal food aid program, California and other states Republicans consistently accuse of abusing the system are coming out basically unscathed.

TJ Cox and other Democrats running for office in California and throughout the country who used health care promises as the cornerstone of their campaigns have some promises to deliver on if they want to keep those voters in 2020.

The federal government is still mishandling the use of contracts with private companies during disasters such as California’s wildfires and hurricanes, according to a report published Thursday by the Government Accountability Office.

Republicans and some Great Lakes Democrats are eager to remove federal protections on the gray wolf, which they say has recovered. But with days left before Congress leaves for the year, and conservationist Democrats about to gain power, they may be stymied.

An increasingly fierce debate about how best to stop wildfires in California could wind up endangering the farm bill, which is crucial to fund crop insurance programs for farmers in Kansas and Missouri.

Residents of the western United States should prepare for a potential tripling of large wildfires in coming decades, a new federal report stated Friday, adding that the region should also expect additional water shortages.

Republicans are eager to fund the border wall with Mexico, but Democrats want some of that money to go toward a new icebreaker ship for the Coast Guard, in order to counter growing Russian influence in the Arctic.

Gray wolves in Washington could lose their endangered species listing, and the habitat protection that comes with it, if Republicans succeed in passing a new bill through Congress. The bill’s proponents say the wolf population has recovered, but conservationists disagree.

Security gaps similar to those found in Georgia’s system, though less porous, have been identified in Washington state, cyber experts say. North Carolina could be susceptible to fake registration updates sent by mail.